Radio România Internațional

Tag: David Popovici

  • Athletes of the year 2024

    Athletes of the year 2024

    2024 proved to be one of the best years in terms of sporting performances. At the Olympic Games in Paris, athletes from Romania won more medals than in the previous two editions combined. In Paris, Romanian athletes stepped onto the podium’s highest step three times, a performance they last achieved 16 years ago at the Beijing Olympics, from where they walked away with four gold medals.

    Given all these high performances, the task of designating the best Romanian athlete of the year was no easy one. And for this reason we have chosen to refer to seven top athletes from Romania who compelled international recognition in the Olympic year 2024. They are swimmer David Popovici, female canoe sprinters Simona Radiş, Ancuţa Bodnar, Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel, and last but not least male canoe sprinters Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache.

    Even before the Olympic Games in Paris, swimmer David Popovici was the athlete most of the Romanian sports fans pinned their hopes on, and he didn’t let them down. He became the new Olympic champion of the 200-meters freestyle race and he also stepped onto the podium’s third step in the 100-meters event.

    In the finals of the 200 freestyle in Paris, David started as the odds-on favourite. He was the owner of the season’s best result and also registered the best time in the qualifiers.

    However, the final race was incredibly balanced and the Olympic champion, Lukas Maertens of Germany had an excellent start. US swimmer Luke Hobson and Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott of Britain also managed excellent shows in the race, which was eventually won by Popovici. In the 100-meters race however, Popovici came third and the gold medal went to Pan Zhanle of China who broke the world record with 40 hundredths. With two medals, gold and bronze, Popovici became Romania’s best athlete in the Olympics’ single events.

    Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache became the new champions of the double scull event, although they didn’t manage good shows in the qualifiers. In the semis they went only third, not the best performance, but which proved enough to secure them a place in the finals. The hard lesson they learnt in the qualifiers and the semis made them to approach the final race with a different attitude, a race, which they won a second and a half ahead of the runner-up Dutch boat.

    Cornea and Enache thus won the first Olympic gold for Romania in the men’s double scull race. Out of the 9 medals won by our delegation in Paris, 5 came from rowing. Out of the 13 medalists in the rowing competitions, two women pairs each won two medals, silver and gold. They are Ioana Vrânceanu and Roxana Anghel, who came second in the pair race and Simona Radiş and Ancuţa Bodnar, who got silver in the double scull contest. All four are also part of the Romanian eight which was soon to become the Olympic champion in Paris.

    Vrânceanu and Anghel had earlier claimed the European title in Szeged, Hungary and became bronze medalists in the world championship hosted by Belgrade in 2023. They qualified without any problems for the semifinals in Paris, but the fight for a medal wasn’t easy. They had a slow start and were in the fifth position after the first 500 meters. However, they gradually advanced and managed to end the race in the second position after the Dutch Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. Australia came third in the race.

    Three years ago, at the Olympics in Tokyo, Radiş and Bodnar won the only gold medal for Romania. In 2022 and 2023 they became world champions and started as the odds-on favourites in Paris, but after the first 15 hundred meters in the semifinal race, they were only in the fourth position and only the first three teams would qualify for the finals. However, the Romanians managed a great comeback at the end of the race, which they eventually won. They lost the gold in the finals though to the team of New Zealand, which ended the race 14 hundredths before the Romanians. Vrânceanu, Anghel, Radiş and Bodnar were also part of the Romanian eight which won gold in the finals, five seconds ahead of the runner-up Britain.

    (bill)

     

  • The Sports Year 2024

    The Sports Year 2024

    Romania made it back to the world’s top rankings in 2024. At the Olympics in Paris, the Romanian delegation came 23rd in the world’s medal ranking, a headway since the previous edition in Tokyo, where they ranked only 46th.

    The Olympic Games kicked off in Paris in late July with a grandiose but controversial ceremony of issues less related to sports though…The first medals for Romania were brought by swimmer David Popovici: gold in the 200 meters free-style race and bronze in the 100-meter event.

    Then Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache stepped onto the podium’s highest step in the double scull race and so did Simona Radiş and Ancuţa Bodnar in the similar women’s event. Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel became silver medalists in the women’s pair event and so did Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc in the women’s lightweight double scull. The third Olympic title was obtained by the Romanian eight in the last day of the rowing competitions.

    Weightlifter Mihaela Cambei reaped silver in the 49 kilogram category, while gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu obtained bronze in the floor event, upon a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Lausanne.

    Football again grabbed the limelight after the end of the Olympics, and Romania boasted a representative in the Champions League’s qualifiers, FCSB, one in the Europa League’s qualifiers, Corvinul Hunedoara, and another two in the Conference League: CFR Cluj and Universitatea Craiova. FCSB made it to the third round of the Champions league, where they were stopped in their tracks by the Czech side Sparta Prague. The Romanian champions later played in the playoffs for Europa League, where they outperformed LASK Linz of Austria. After six matches, FCSB ranked 10th in Europa League with three wins, two draws and a defeat.

    In January they will be playing Qarabag of Azerbaijan, and Manchester United in a home match. Corvinul Hunedoara were knocked out in the second preliminary round by Rijeka of Croatia. They next joined the Conference League’s third round where they got outperformed by Astana of Kazakhstan. In the same competition Universitatea Craiova were knocked out of the qualifiers by the Slovenian side Maribor. CFR Cluj managed to obtain the best performance and made it to the play-offs, where they lost to Cypriote side Pafos.

    In the second half of the year, Romania’s national football side played in the Nations League under the guidance of the famous Romanian headcoach and football legend, Mircea Lucescu, who had come back to the Romanian national side after almost 40 years. Romania won all the six matches in the second group of League C, which also included Cyprus, Lithuania and Kosovo. Our footballers won five matches and the match in Bucharest against Kosovo was decided by the UEFA after the visitors had left the pitch before the final whistle and the result was three-nil to Romania. So Romania ended up among the best four winners in the Nations League groups and secured their place in the World Cup playoffs. Lots drawn in December have placed Romania in Group H together with Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and San Marino. Our footballers will be playing Bosnia and Herzegovina in March. The group’s winners are directly qualified whereas the 12 sides in the second positions in the groups plus the best sides in the 2024-2025 edition of the Nations League, which didn’t qualify in the preliminaries, will be vying for the four places available in the European zone.

    We cannot end without mentioning the best Romanian athletes who left us in 2024. Canoe sprinter Vasile Dîba left us in February. Dîba stepped on the highest step of the podium at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. The former great handballer Stefan Birtalan, double world champion and Olympic medalist, left us in May.

    Javelin thrower, Mihaela Peneş, gold medalist at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and silver medalist in Mexico City in 1968, left us in August. On December 2 we lost one of Romania’s greatest goalkeepers, Helmut Duckadam. He was dubbed the Hero in Seville, after he had saved four penalty shots in the 1986 finals of the European Champions Cup Steaua Bucharest won against Barcelona.

    Dan Grecu, the first world champion in Romania’s men gymnastics, bronze medalist at the Montreal Olympics in 1976 also left us in December.

    (bill)

  • RRI Sports Club – End of year rankings

    RRI Sports Club – End of year rankings

    Romanian athlete David Popovici has been nominated by the continental swimming forum for the title of best European swimmer of 2024. This year, at the Olympic Games, Popovici won gold in the 200-meter freestyle race and bronze in the 100-meter event, and at the European Championships, gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle events. Léon Marchand of Franceis the favorite for this title. He won four gold medals and one bronze medal at the Olympic Games and set four Olympic and two European records. Let us also note that in the high jump event, two Romanians were nominated for the title of best European athlete of the year, Constantin Popovici and Cătălin Preda respectively.

     

    Rower Ioana Vrînceanu received the title of best athlete of the year from Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club on Tuesday at a gala event held in Bucharest. At the Paris Olympics, she won gold in the women’s 8+1 event and silver in the women’s double sculls, alongside Roxana Anghel. In Szeged, Hungary, the two athletes also scooped the European gold in the double-scull race.

     

    Marian Enache and Andrei Cornea were designed “Crew of the Year” by the Romanian Rowing Federation. At the Paris Olympics, they won gold in the men’s double sculls. The members of the women’s 8+1 crew, the Olympic champions, and the other athletes who won medals in Paris in the women’s double sculls, double pairs and lightweight double sculls also received awards.

     

    2024 was also good for Romanian football. The national team qualified to a European championship again, where it reached the round of 16. Midfielder Răzvan Marin, currently playing for the Italian club Cagliari, was designated player of the year. Having scored eight goals for the national team this year, including two at EURO 2024, Marin also received the award for best midfielder. The title of best coach of the year went to Edward Iordănescu, who, as headcoach, led the national team to the European Championship in Germany. (VP)

  • 2024 Olympic Profiles

    2024 Olympic Profiles

     

    Before the Olympic Games in Paris, David Popovici was the athlete on whom the vast majority of Romanians’ hopes were pinned. And he did not disappoint. He became the new Olympic champion of the 200m freestyle event and won the bronze in the 100m freestyle race. In Paris, he was the first member of Team Romania to win a gold medal, on Monday, July 29th. His success in the 200m race was also the first Olympic title for Romania in men’s swimming. The girls had won Olympic gold medals in 2000, in Sydney, (Diana Mocanu in the 100m and 200m backstroke), and in 2004, in Athens (Camelia Potec in the 200m freestyle).

     

    In the 200m freestyle final in Paris, David was the most likely to win. He had the best performance of the season, and had achieved the best times in the Olympic qualifiers and semi-finals. But the final was unexpectedly balanced. Germany’s Lukas Maertens, the Olympic 400m champion, started very well, but by mid-race he slowed down. The American Luke Hobson and Britons Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott also seemed able to win, but eventually David Popovici triumphed.

     

    Aged only 19, David thus added to his track record the only medal he was missing, the Olympic one. He had won 2 world champion titles, in Budapest in 2022, and 5 European champion titles: on in Kazan, in 2021, in a short-course pool, and then 2 each in Rome, in 2022 and in Belgrade, this year, in Olympic-size pools.

     

    In the 100m freestyle event, David came out 3rd after a breathtaking final, in which China’s Pan Zhanle broke the world record by 0.40 sec. With 2 medals, gold and bronze, Popovici remains the Romanian athlete with the best individual performance at the Paris Olympics.

  • Another edition of the Olympic Games end in Paris

    Another edition of the Olympic Games end in Paris

    A small torch carried on Sunday by the phenomenal French swimmer Leon Marchand – the only athlete to have won four gold medals at the Olympics in Paris – marked the end of the 33rd edition of the Olympic Games.

    Romania ended this edition of the prestigious competition with 9 medals, of which, three gold, four silver and two bronze. Romania’s gold medalists were swimmer David Popovici, in the 200 meters freestyle race, Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache in the men’s double race and the Romania’s women eight made up of Maria Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Ancuta Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Beres, Ioana Vrinceanu, Simona Radis and Victoria Stefania Petreanu. Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis walked away with silver from the women’s double scull event and so did Ioana Vrinceanu and Roxana Anghel in the women’s pair. Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc also became silver medalists in the light-weight women’s double scull and so did weightlifter Mihaela Cambei in the 49 kilogram category.

    David Popovici with bronze in the 100 meter freestyle race and gymnast Ana Barbosu stepped onto the podium’s third step.

    Romania had a better presence in Paris than in Tokyo 2021 and Rio 2016, where its athletes got only four medals. And they fared better than in London Olympics, from where they walked away with only 7 medals.

    However, the number of medals won in Paris is significantly lower when compared to Sidney 2000, when our athletes reaped no less than 26 medals.

    Romania went 23rd out of the 206 participants in the medal ranking in Paris. The United States topped the table with 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze medals, followed by China with 40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze. Japan went third with 20 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze.

    The host country, France, ranked fifth with 16 gold medals, 26 silver and 22 bronze.

    The closing ceremony was attended by 80 thousand people who came to celebrate sports and their winners. Bearing the medals they won, athletes were allowed to enter the stadium without being imposed any alphabetical order as two weeks ago in the opening ceremony.

    An original grandiose show of light and colour with artists wearing SF costumes was staged during the closing ceremony, which also included fireworks.

    Roughly 300 dancers, actors and musicians put up a show in which extraterrestrials coming from outer space were restoring the Olympic Games and rebuilding the Olympic Circles.

    During the aforementioned ceremony, the Olympic Flag was handed over to the next host country, the USA, and a 15-minute Hollywood performance came to complete the show.

    Upon a spectacular jump over the stadium, the US film star Tom Cruise has been assigned another ‘mission impossible’, namely to carry the Olympic flag to Los Angeles.

     

    (bill)

  • Sports Roundup

    Sports Roundup

    The week that passed brought Romania three fresh titles in the Paris Olympics. The first was won by swimmer David Popovici in the 200 meter freestyle race who completed his prize closet with a bronze medal that he won on Wednesday in the 100 meter race.

    Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache walked away with gold from the men’s double scull race on Thursday, while Simona Radis and Ancuta Bodnar became silver medalists in the women’s similar race.

    Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel became silver medalists in the women’s coxless pair on Friday and so did Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc in the lightweight women’s double scull race. The third Olympic title was reaped by the Romanian women’s eight on Saturday.

    Hammer thrower, Bianca Ghelber, qualified for the competition’s finals on Sunday. She competed in the qualifiers’ Group A, which she ended in the fifth position with a throw measuring 71 meters and 42 centimeters, the eleventh result of the contest. The best performance belonged to Krista Tervo of Finland, 74 meters and 79 centimeters. The Olympics in Paris have been the fourth edition for the 34 years-old Ghelber, who came sixth in the finals in Tokyo. She ranked 17th in London in 2012 and failed to qualify for the finals in Beijing in 2008.

    The competition’s final event is on Tuesday. We recall that athletes from Romania haven’t obtained an Olympic medal since 2008 when Constantina Diţă got gold in the marathon race.

    The latest from football now.

    Last weekend saw the matches of the fourth leg of Romania’s Football Superleague.

    On Friday, Otelul Galati clinched a 1-0 home win against Hermannstadt, while Dinamo Bucharest, on their own turf, outperformed Gloria Buzau 4-1

    On Saturday, Farul Constanta secured a 2-0 home win against Poli Iasi.

    Universitatea Craiova ended in a goaless draw their home match against Petrolul Ploieşti, then in a derby of the city of Cluj, Universitatea secured a 3-2 win against CFR. The leg’s last matches are due on Monday when Unirea Slobozia plays UTA Arad and Rapid Bucureşti takes on Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe. FC Botoşani versus FCSB has been postponed.

    Oţelul presently tops the table with 10 points, followed by Universitatea Craiova and Universitatea Cluj, each with 8 points. On Tuesday, FCSB will be playing in the third preliminary round of the Champions League. The Romanians will be up against Czech side Sparta Praga.

    (bill)

  • Olympic medals for Romanian athletes

    Olympic medals for Romanian athletes

    Every four years, the world’s best-performing athletes compete in the Olympic Games. This year, the event brought together 10,700 competitors from 206 countries and territories. With a delegation comprising over a hundred athletes, Romania is among the best represented countries, 100 years after the first Olympic medal scooped by Romanian athletes, won in rugby in the Paris Olympics of 1924. Over the years, Romanian athletes have won a total of 313 Olympic medals, of which 92 gold, 98 silver and 123 bronze. The members of the Romanian delegation have already grabbed remarkable results in Paris, ever since the first days of the competition. With the gold medal in the 200m freestyle race and bronze in the 100m race, David Popovici is one of the most successful swimmers in this year’s edition. At only 19 years of age, a two-time world champion and five-time European champion, the athlete enrolled at Dinamo Bucharest sports club completed his record with Olympic medals.

     

     

    Our rowers also grabbed their first medals: gold in the men’s double sculls and silver in the women’s doubles sculls, the women’s pair and women’s leightweight double sculls events, marking a remarkable leap forward in a discipline where, in recent times, most results have been achieved in pair events. The progress made in gymnastics should also be commended. Although it is one of the most successful sports for Romania, with 25 gold, 20 silver and 26 bronze medals, results in gymnastics have been somewhat subpar since the London Olympics of 2012, when Sandra Izbaşa won gold in the vault final, Cătălina Ponor scooped silver in the floor event, and the women’s team won the bronze medals. Now, the girls managed to make their way back to the best-competing teams in the world, finishing 7th the team event, while some of our gymnasts also qualified to individual finals. The biggest expectations are however pinned on upcoming rowing events, with the last finals scheduled for Saturday. Also in water sports, we expect medals from the multiple world canoe champion Cătălin Chirilă, who needs to prove he comes from a long tradition of good results for Romania, spanning nearly seven decades, which began with the two gold medals won by Leon Rotman in 1956 in the Melbourne Olympics and continued with the four titles won by Ivan Patzaichin over 1968-1984. The Romanian delegation also has expectations in athletics events, but the latest results in world and European competitions force us to tone down our optimism.

     

     

    Last but not least, in weightlifting, Romania will be represented by two athletes with good chances at winning a medal: Loredana Toma will compete in the 71-kg event, while Mihaela Cambei in the 49-kg event. Loredana is ranked 4th in the world rankings in her category, while Mihaela is 5th in her category. Their current form will be a deciding factor in the current competition, in addition to the determination both competitors have displayed when it mattered the most. (VP)

  • Olympic gold for David Popovici

    Olympic gold for David Popovici

    The Romanian swimmer David Popovici is the new Olympic champion in the men’s 200 m freestyle race. On Monday, he won Romania’s first medal at this year’s Games and its first ever in men’s swimming. Only Romania’s female swimmers had won Olympic medals before, namely in 2000, in Sydney, thanks to Diana Mocanu, in the 100 and 200 m backstroke, and again in 2004, in Athens, thanks to Camelia Potec, in the 200 m freestyle.

     

    In the Paris final, Popovici was the favourite from the start. He had the best result of the season and had clocked the best time in the semifinals. The final, however, was a more balanced affair than initially expected. Germany’s Lukas Maertens, the Olympic champion in the 400 m race, had a strong start, but halfway through the race, he slowed down and things became more balanced. The American swimmer Luke Hobson and Britain’s Matthew Richards and Duncan Scott all looked like they could win the race, but the eventual winner was David Popovici. This is what he told exclusively to Radio Romania:

     

    “It was a very close finish. Just like, three years ago, I was 0.02 seconds away from the bronze medal, the swimmer who finished in second place this time was 0.02 seconds behind me. Congrats to everyone who made it into the final and everyone who qualified. I would like to thank to the people in Romania who have always supported me. I also want to thank those who did not believe in me, for without them, I would not be here. After the 100 m race and after the holiday I will have time to truly enjoy what just happened.”

     

    Aged only 19, David Popovici now has to his record the only medal he was missing: the Olympic medal. He has so far won two world titles, in Budapest, in 2022, and five European titles: in Kazan in 2021, two in Rome in 2022 and another two in Belgrade this year. His next challenge is the 100 m freestyle race, whose final is taking place on Wednesday evening. Popovici beat the world record in this race at the 2022 European Championships in Rome, when he finished in 46.86 seconds, breaking a 13-year-old record held by Cesar Cielo Filho of Brazil. At the world championships in Doha this year, China’s Pan Zhanle improved on Popovici’s record by 0.06 seconds. If David Popovici wins the gold in the 100 m freestyle race, Romania would go up in the medal ranking for the Paris Olympics, which on Monday it entered in 15th place.

  • July 28, 2024

    July 28, 2024

    OLYMPICS – Romanian swimmer David Popovici has qualified, earlier today, to the semi-finals of the 200 m freestyle at the Olympic Games in Paris, with the best time of the series, 1:45.65, one of only two under 1:46 in an event where a 1:95-second spread covered the top 19 swimmers. The semifinals are scheduled for this evening. Popovici (19 years old) was fourth in the 200 m freestyle final three years ago, at the Tokyo Olympics. The Romanians Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel qualified to the semifinals of the women’s doubles event, after winning the second series. Romanian rowers Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci also qualified for the semifinals of the men’s double sculls, after finishing second in the second round. Romanian Sabrina Maneca Voinea has the highest score on beam and floor in the qualifications of artistic gymnastics. In the team competition, Romania totaled 159.497 points, being overtaken by Britain with 160.830 points.

     

    SEINE – The heavy rainfall in Paris in the last few days has affected the quality of the Seine, forcing the organizers of the Olympic Games to cancel the training for the triathlon contest, scheduled for Sunday morning, on the river crossing the French capital. The Olympic triathlon, made up of three events, swimming 1.5 km, cycling 40 km and running 10 km, is the first event of the 2024 Olympic Games to be held on the Seine, before the open water swimming events, scheduled for the second week of the Games. Before swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday, the triathlon competitors have the opportunity to “get used” with the river, even if some have decided to continue training in the pool.

     

    WEATHER – The weather  in Romania will be hot into next week. Until Monday evening, a yellow code is also in place in this respect, valid for the south and southwest of the country. Temperatures are expected to rise up to 37 degrees Celsius, while on Monday highs can reach 39 degrees in the south, then, as of Tuesday, the weather will again enter a cooling process until the end of next week, when temperatures are expected to exceed again 35 degrees Celsius. Meteorologists also say that Romania should brace for a new heatwave in August, but the nights will no longer be tropical.

     

    CHECKS – Romanian border police officers have carried out, since the operationalization of the eDAC application until now, more than 557,000 checks to establish the legal status of persons and to prevent and combat possible illegal acts, the application being used including by the mobile teams in the field. The most recent case was reported two days ago, when, following checks carried out in the departure area, a team of the Henri Coandă International Airport  found a man who could not provide documents, declined his identity verbally and presented a photo, on his mobile phone, of a Pakistani passport. Following the checks carried out, it was established that the man was on Romanian soil illegally.

     

    CHILDREN – The total number of children in Romania who had both parents working abroad was, at the end of March 2024, 9,039, some 719 less compared to the the previous year, according to data supplied by the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption (ANPDCA). Also, the number of children with parents working abroad dropped to 61,007 at the end of March, from 64,936 on December 31, 2023.

     

    FUEL – The average price of a liter of gasoline in Romania increased by 5.1% compared to last month, and the average price of a liter of diesel increased by 4.7%. In Bucharest, a liter of standard gasoline is sold at prices between 7.35 lei and 7.49 lei, and a liter of standard diesel is between 7.44 lei and 7.57 lei (1 euro is the equivalent of around 5 lei). Romania is currently in third place in the European Union among the countries with the cheapest gasoline, after Bulgaria and Malta, and in fourth place in terms of the lowest diesel price, after Bulgaria, Lithuania and Malta.

     

    RACE – Romanian pilot Simone Tempestini is in second place, out of over 100 crews, in the Rally di Roma Capitale, the fifth stage of the European Rally Championship (FIA ERC). Romania’s national rally champion eight times, Tempestini won stages 5 and 6, the latter being the longest of Saturday. Born in Italy to Italian parents, Tempestini has been living in Romania since he was 14 and became a Romanian citizen in 2016, the year he was also world junior champion. (EE)

  • The first part of Team Romania, in Paris

    The first part of Team Romania, in Paris

    82 of the 107 athletes who make up Romania’s Olympic team at the 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, arrived in Paris on Sunday, with an aircraft recently renamed “Nadia Comăneci” in honor of the Romanian gymnast, nicknamed “the goddess from Montreal”. Flying to France were the rowing, swimming, artistic gymnastics, table tennis, water polo, boxing, cycling, fencing, yachting and archery teams.

     

    The President of the National Agency for Sports, the former rower Elisabeta Lipă is here with details: “If you ask me how these three years have flown, I don’t know what to tell you, but now the time has come for the departure, the time for the Romanian delegation to take flight at the Olympic Games. I have the same emotions as when I was competing. The athletes have our full support.”

     

    Welcomed upon landing in Paris by the Romanian ambassador to France, Ioana Bivolaru, the athletes and coaches received their credentials, then headed for their accommodation. Only the swimmer David Popovici and the rowers are staying outside the Olympic Village.

     

    Here is David Popovici: “It’s so hard to qualify for the Olympic Games. I mean, everyone talks about performances, about medals and that’s normal, but only getting qualification for the Games is actually such an impressive performance. And I wanted to use this moment to congratulate all the athletes, in fact to congratulate all of us who are here. As to all the expectations that either the media or the public have from us, we are athletes and we have goals, we don’t follow expectations. Good luck to us and we hope you will enjoy the Games!”

     

    In the following days, Romania’s representatives in the canoeing, athletics, weightlifting, tennis, wrestling, rhythmic gymnastics, judo and triathlon sports disciplines will also arrive in Paris. Bernadette Szocs, a table tennis player in the world’s top 10, is among the athletes with a high chance of winning medals: “I tried to correct absolutely everything I knew was missing. I have done my best. I am very satisfied and proud of what I did in preparation for the Olympic Games. Now I can’t wait to start doing my best and try to obtain the long-awaited Olympic medal.”

     

    The athletes present in Paris have the duty to continue the story of the first medal that Romania won at the Olympic Games, in 1924, also in the capital of France, said the president of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Mihai Covaliu, quote: “I can’t help thinking that, 100 years ago, also in Paris, we opened this path with a bronze medal, and we have the pleasant mission of continuing this beautiful story, of enriching Romania’s treasury with more shiny Olympic medals and of enjoying an edition of the Olympic Games at the highest level” said Mihai Covaliu.

     

    The Olympic Games in Paris will begin on July 26, and rowers Ionela and Marius Cosmiuc, husband and wife, will bear the Romanian flag at the opening ceremony. The Games will end on August 11. (LS)

  • June 22, 2024 UPDATE

    June 22, 2024 UPDATE

     

    WEATHER Weather experts in Romania have issued a number of alerts for Sunday, June 23, concerning extreme heat and significant heat stress in most of the country. A code red alert for extreme heat will be in place the south of Romania. The heat wave will be persistent and temperatures will be extremely high for the 5th consecutive day, reaching 38-39 degrees Celsius, with lows around 20 degrees.

     

    EMPLOYMENT The number of public sector employees in Romania in April 2024 was 1,292,549,up 3,009 since the previous month, according to data made public by the finance ministry. Of the over 826,000 employees in the central public administration, more than 600,000 were working in institutions fully funded from the state budget. The largest number of such positions was reported in the education ministry (302,230), followed by the interior ministry (123,859), defence ministry (73,818), finance ministry (24,762) and health ministry (18,156). Working in local public administration institutions this April were 466,308 people, of whom 286,443 in institutions fully funded from local budgets and 179,865 in institutions fully or partly financed from other revenues.

     

    DISINFORMATION The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed in Washington a Memorandum of Understanding on countering information manipulation. Among other things, the document provides for the coordinated development of relevant strategies, as well as for the involvement of independent media, civil society and the academia in fighting disinformation. According to a news release, the two officials have also reviewed the progress made by Romania towards inclusion in the Visa Waiver Programme, and have reconfirmed their commitment to close cooperation in view of reaching this goal as soon as possible. During her visit to the US, organised in the context of celebrating 20 years since Romania joined NATO, the Romanian diplomacy chief also had meetings with the National Security Council senior director for Europe Michael Carpenter, with whom she discussed items on the Romanian-US economic and security agenda, as well as regional developments and preparations for the forthcoming NATO Summit in Washington. Also, during a meeting with Samantha Power, USAID administrator, Luminiţa Odobescu highlighted the two countries’ shared interest in strengthening the resilience of partners in the Black Sea region, with a focus on the Republic of Moldova.

     

    ORGANISED CRIME The Romanian interior minister Cătălin Predoiu had a meeting with the British ambassador to Bucharest, Giles Matthew Portman. The talks focused on measures to be taken in order to curb transnational organised crime. According to the interior ministry, another topic approached by the 2 officials was improving the efficiency of police work, including institutional reforms, so as to handle current challenges. Predoiu highlighted the very good cooperation between the two countries, as well as the opportunities to further develop it under the Romanian-British Strategic Partnership. The Romanian official pointed out that border protection is a priority for Romania, whose goal is to strengthen and protect the Schengen area. Mr. Predoiu also mentioned that the implementation of the Pact on migration and asylum would be both a challenge for the Member States, and an opportunity to improve national migration and asylum management systems.

     

    FESTIVAL Sibiu, in central Romania, is hosting the 31st International Theatre Festival (FITS). For 10 days, the public can choose from as many as 830 events, including theatre performances, music, dance, circus, exhibitions and public reading sessions, which bring together over 5,000 artists from 82 countries. Internationally acclaimed actors, directors and writers such as John Malkovich, Tim Robbins, Pippo delBono and Neil LaBute are also expected to attend. Many of the international productions in FITS may be viewed online this year, on the online platform “Scena Digitală” of the Sibiu “Radu Stanca” National Theatre, the main organiser of FITS 2024. “In terms of the number of participants, the number of partners, the diversity of projects in the festival, I believe this is the most complex cultural event in Romania and a major one at international level,” said the culture minister Raluca Turcan, who attended several events in the Festival, including the opening of the Romania-Poland Cultural Season, the first in the history of the 2 countries’ bilateral relations.

     

    SWIMMING The Romanian swimmer David Popovici defended his gold at the 200m freestyle event in the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, after also winning the 100m freestyle race. The next challenge for the Romanian swimmer is the Olympic competition, in which Romania will be represented by 93 athletes. The latest one to qualify is the wrestler Răzvan Arnăuţ, in the 60kg Greco-Roman category, after the International Olympic Committee disqualified several Russian and Byelorussian athletes. (AMP)

  • June 20, 2024 UPDATE

    June 20, 2024 UPDATE

    DEFENSE – Romania will donate a Patriot system to Ukraine. The decision was taken by the country’s Supreme Defense Council in Thursday’s session. The move is a carry-over of negotiations, particularly with the American partners, with a view to obtaining a similar or equivalent system that should respond to the security needs of Romanian airspace. The decision was based on a comprehensive technical assessment, while all measures have been taken to eliminate the risk of new threats for Romania, the Presidency reports. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Romania, arguing the Patriot system will help consolidate Ukraine’s air defenses as well as security across Europe. The Supreme Defense Council also approved Romania’s goal for the NATO Summit in Washington next month. The Summit is expected to reassert trans-Atlantic unity, report progress towards consolidating NATO’s deterrence and defense posture as well as express greater commitment towards Ukraine while preserving the Alliance’s commitment towards vulnerable partners. On the sidelines of the Council meeting, president Klaus Iohannis informed his NATO allies that he has withdrawn his candidacy for NATO Secretary General. Council members voted to back the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

     

     

    STRATEGY – The Romanian government on Thursday revealed its national strategy for preventing and combating anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalization and hate speech for 2024-2027. The document reflects Romania’s commitment to continue to strongly oppose any such manifestations, also marking a carry-over of previous efforts started under the 2021-2023 strategy. “Developing societal resilience against such phenomena requires a complex approach and a robust partnership between state authorities, civil society and academia”, deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacșu said. In turn, Silviu Vexler, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, described the Strategy as an opportunity for the entire Romanian society and a unique document, focusing on realistic goals and concrete measures.

     

     

    STUDY – Seven in ten investors anticipate an increase in Romania’s investor appeal over the next three years, according to a study carried out by Ernst & Young. 46% of the CEOs interviewed believe that Romania remained a robust and resilient market for investments in 2023, adding that they plan to consolidate or expand their operations here in the near future. Bucharest remains the number one city in terms of investor appeal, with a substantial share of 40%. Iași (northeast) and Timişoara (west) registered three investment projects each, followed by Cluj-Napoca (northwest) and Braşov (center) with two each. According to the study, this year’s investment model suggests a shift from traditional economic centers, signaling a wider distribution of investment projects in various cities.

     

     

    STATISTICS – Romania’s school population went down by 6,200 in the current school year, standing at approximately 3.5 million people, according to data made public by the National Statistics Institute. According to the Institute, during the interval, almost half of Romania’s school population was enrolled in primary and secondary education cycles, and almost a third in high-schools and pre-school education units. Compared to the previous school year, primary and secondary education cycles, as well as vocational education reported the most significant drop in the number of enrolled students. At the same time, the degree of enrollment of students from the 6-10 age bracket was the highest compared to other age groups. The average school population – teaching staff ratio was 14-1.

     

     

    CAR MARKET – New car registrations in Romania went up over 14% in May, the Association of European Carmakers reports. Over 62,000 new cars were registered in Romania in the first five months of 2024, and the domestic car market reported a 2.8% increase percent, the Association notes. In Europe, new car registrations were 2.6% lower in May compared to the same period of 2023, amidst the waning demand for electric vehicles.

     

     

    SWIMMING – David Popovici won gold in the 100m freestyle event on Wednesday at the European Swimming Championships in Belgrade. Nandor Nemeth of Hungary won silver while Andrej Barna of Serbia won bronze. (VP)

  • Sports flash

    Sports flash

    Romanian swimmer David Popovici walked away with gold this past Wednesday in the 100m freestyle event. as part of the European Swimming Championships in Belgrade. Popovici clocked 46 seconds and 88 hundredths of a second, a mere two minutes away from the record he set in Rome, in 2022.
    We recall Popovici’s performance back then was also a new world record China’s Pan Zhanle broke in February 2024.

    In Belgrade, David Popovici was followed suit by Hungary’s Nandor Németh, who clocked 47 seconds and 49 hundredths of a second. Stepping onto the third step of the podium was Serbian swimmer Andrej Barna, who finished the race 17 hundredths of a second later than Nemeth. After the result in the Serbian capital, David Popovici has reconfirmed his Olympic medal hopeful status, in the 100m freestyle event.

    This coming weekend will reveal if David Popovici is still in full command of the other event where he is the defending European champion, the 200m freestyle. In 2022 in Rome, Popovici set a new juniors’ European and world record. Back then David clocked one minute, 42 seconds and 97 hundredths of a second. He was less than a second away, actually 97 hundredths of a second, from the world record set by Germany’s Paul Biedermann in 2009.

    In 2024, as part of the Mare Nostrum contest in Barcelona, in the 200m race, David clocked one minute, 44 seconds and 74 hundredths of a second. In the final, Popovici outperformed the event’s world champion, South-Korean Sun-woo Hwang, finishing the race nearly one second earlier.
    The Romanian swimmers’ performance in the European Championships in Belgrade have been unassuming for the other events they competed in.

    In the women’s 200m backstroke final on Tuesday, Aissia-Claudia Prisecariu came in 7th. Also 7th came Denis Laurean Popescu in the 50m butterfly final. On Wednesday in the 10-meter platform dive final, Ioana-Andreea Cârcu came in 11th.
    In the swimming contest, Denis -Laurean Popescu has wasted the opportunity to qualify to the 100m butterfly final.

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    Romanian swimmer David Popovici, former European and world champion, on Wednesday won the 200 meter free-style race of the Mare Nostrum competition in Barcelona.

    The Romanian ended the race in one minute, 44 seconds and 74 hundredths, a new record of the competition. The result also represents Popovici’s personal record this year. The Romanian ended the race almost one second ahead the South-Korean runner-up Sun-woo Hwang, the world champion of this race.

    David Popovici is Romania’s greatest hope at the Olympic Games in Paris. His last verification before the summer Olympics will be at the European Championships in Belgrade in June.

    Bangkok in Thailand, is hosting until Sunday the last pre-Olympic boxing tournament before Paris. On Tuesday, Romanian boxer Robert Jitaru conceded defeat to US challenger Emilio Garcia on points in the second round of the 63.5 kilogram category.

    In the first round match, Jitaru clinched a TKO win against Jinxiang Pan of China.

    The event is also being attended by several Romanian pugilists in both the male and female competitions. Romania so far boasts only one athlete qualified for the boxing competitions of the Olympics in Paris, Lacramioara Perjoc in the 54 kilogram category.

    Dinamo Bucharest has ended with a win the championship of the National Handball League. This male team coached by Spanish Xavi Pascual on Wednesday secured a 37-21 home win against CSM Bucharest in the season’s last match.

    Dinamo has ended the championship unbeaten with 24 wins and two draws. This is their 20th title of champions in men’s handball.

    Romania’s national football side is training in Mogosoaia, close to Bucharest for the European Football Championship in Germany. Next week, our footballers will be playing two friendlies, one against Bulgaria on Tuesday and another one against Lichtenstein on Friday. Romania’s first match at the European championships will be against Ukraine on June 17th.

    (bill)

  • Sportivul săptămânii: Înotătorul David Popovici

    Sportivul săptămânii: Înotătorul David Popovici

    Înotători din 25
    de ţări au luat parte, la sfârşitul săptămânii trecute, la o importantă
    reuniune internaţională găzduită de Luxemburg. Concursul Euro Meet a adus la
    start peste 600 de sportivi, dornici să-şi arate valoarea şi, mai ales, să
    îndeplinească baremurile de calificare pentru Jocurile Olimpice din vară, de la
    Paris. Între cei prezenţi s-a aflat şi cel mai bun înotător român al
    momentului, David Popovici. El a câştigat medalii de aur în probele de 100 şi
    200 de metri liber, iar Radio România Internaţional l-a desemnat Sportivul Săptămânii.


    La 100 de metri
    liber, Popovici a stabilit la Euro Meet, în Luxemburg un nou record al
    competiţiei, cu timpul de 48 de secunde şi o sutime. Nu a fost cel mai bun timp
    al românului, deţinător al recordului mondial al probei, cu 46 de secunde şi 86
    de sutimi. Popovici nu a speriat cronometrul nici la 200 de metri liber. Timpul
    cu care a câştigat proba – un minut, 46 de secunde şi 86 de sutimi – a fost cu două secunde mai slab decât rezultatele
    de la Mondialele din vară, de la Fukuoka, unde românul s-a clasat in final pe
    locul 4. Este clar că mai e de lucru până la Olimpiadă, iar faptul că Popovici
    a decis că nu va lua parte la Mondialele din Qatar, programate în luna
    februarie, arată că se va concentra exclusiv pe pregătirea Jocurilor de la
    Paris.


    David Popovici s-a născut la
    București, în ziua de 15 septembrie 2004. S-a remarcat în competițiile de
    juniori în 2021 când, la Europenele de la Roma, s-a impus la 200, 100 și 50 de
    metri liber, la ultima probă realizând și un record mondial de juniori. Ulterior,
    a bătut recordurile mondiale de juniori și la 100 și 200 de metri liber. A
    reușit calificarea la Jocurile Olimpice de la Tokyo, unde s-a clasat al
    patrulea la 200 de metri liber, la două sutimi de secundă de podium.

    La
    seniori, a câștigat primul titlu major în noiembrie 2021, când, la Kazan, în
    Rusia, a devenit campion european la 200 de metri liber. Anul 2022 a fost cel
    mai bun din cariera sa de până acum. A triumfat întâi la Mondialele de seniori
    din iunie, de la Budapesta. Cele două titluri câștigate de el în capitala
    Ungariei, în probele de 100 și 200 de metri liber, au reprezentat premiere
    pentru sportul românesc.

    Apoi, la Europenele de la Roma, din august, a terminat
    cursa de 100 de metri în 46 de secunde şi 86 de sutimi, nou record mondial. A câştigat
    şi la 200 de metri liber, unde a fost foarte aproape de recordul lumii. În
    2023, David a rămas în topurile mondiale, dar nu a mai urcat pe podium la
    competiţiile majore desfăşurate în bazin olimpic.